Entries in Dog
(3)

A three-month old Akita Inu puppy named Yume, a gift from the Japanese prefecture of Akita, arrived in Moscow on an Aeroflot flight from Tokyo.

According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the Japanese Embassy distributed a statement from the regional government saying it gave Putin the dog because he is “a great lover of dogs.” The statement said the gift was meant to show gratitude for Russia’s assistance after last year’s earthquake and tsunami, and to congratulate Putin on his return to the presidency.

The pup arrived a day before Putin is to meet with Japan’s foreign minister in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi. Their talks were expected to include a discussion about a disputed chain of islands to which each country lays claim. The Russians call them the Kuril Islands; the Japanese call them the Chishima Islands.

Putin is known to be a dog lover and is often seen with his black Labrador, Koni.

This is not the first animal given to the Russian leader. In 2010 Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov gave him a Bulgarian shepherd puppy named Baffi. In 2008 he received an Amur tiger cub named Masha for his birthday (it lived in a zoo). In 2005 he was given a horse named Vadik during a visit to the region of Tatarstan.

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A stray dog completed a 1,100-mile trek across China, climbing 12 mountains in nearly 25 days. All it took to get the dog to complete the mission was giving it a bone.

The tenacious pup, nicknamed “Xiaosa,” or Little Sa, encountered a team of cyclists in the beginning stages of a race from Sichuan province to Tibet. When one of the cyclists fed the hungry-looking dog some food, the smart dog decided to stay with the hands that fed him and continued the race, the BBC reported.

Soon Xiaosa was the team’s mascot, and a national hero in China was born.

A blog started by one of the cyclists chronicling Xiaosa’s adventures had attracted 40,000 fans by the end of the race, according to the BBC.

The UK’s Telegraph reported that the dog’s Internet followers in China have nicknamed her “Forrest Gump,” after the fictional Tom Hanks character that ran and ran and ran in the movie of the same name.

“She was lying, tired, on the street around Yajiang, Sichuan province,” one cyclist told China Daily. “So we fed her, and then she followed our team.”

The dog, the cyclists reported, kept up with them on their daily treks of 30 to 40 miles and even stayed on foot while others took a shortcut.

“Many people stopped cycling in some sections, then took the bus, but the dog made it,” a cyclist told the paper.

The riders also reported that Xiaosa, whose breed was not reported, also stayed with them on climbs up mountains as high as 14,000 feet and, although tiny in stature, fended off attacks from other dogs.

The cyclists’ journey ended last week but Xiaosa’s story continues to have a happy ending.

The once stray and hungry dog has been adopted by one of the cyclists and received a clean bill of health from a veterinarian after her long, eventful journey.

Chris Amaral/Thinkstock(SHANGHAI) -- China’s most-populated city is seeking to cut down on its dog population, by implementing a new rule which calls for a maximum of one dog per family.

The “one household, one dog” policy is scheduled to take effect in Shanghai on Sunday and applies to local city residents, as well as to foreign residents. According to Shanghai Municipal Government officials, the only people exempted from the rule are families who already have licenses for more than one dog.

City officials say approximately 140,000 of the city’s dogs are licensed, while at least 600,000 dogs are not licensed.

New city regulations will see licensing fees cut by 75 percent, dropping down to 500 yuan ($77), which officials hope will encourage dog owners to have their pets licensed.